Riesling GROSSI LAUE 2010

Grossi Laüe signifies the finest vineyards in Alsace dialect and represents an equivalent to the German Grosses Gewächs or the Burgundian Grand Cru.

Presentation

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Great classic Riesling which starts to show its promisses but which will gain in complexity for 8 years or more. Its minerality and long complex aftertaste will make it the ideal partner to noble fish or seafood dishes.
The vintage
The winter of 2010 was particularly harsh, with more than 30 days below zero, and temperatures dropped as far as -17°C. Budburst on 8 April was early, but flowering which began on 10 June took almost 3 weeks to finish due to cool temperatures. July was exceptionally hot and sunny, before cold, damp and rainy weather set in throughout August and into September. Ideal weather conditions returned on 11 September, with not a drop of rain for 6 weeks. Our harvest began on 27 September and ended on 26 October. Maturity reached record levels, the highest for 50 years, with good acidity, similar to 1996. Crop size was 30% below average, and even lower for Gewurztraminer.
Superb wines with magnificent balance, purity and fruit. 2010 is a great classic vintage, with good ageing potential.
In the vineyard
Produced in a selection of the finest plots of the Hugel estate in the heart of the grand cru Schoenenbourg. This fantastic historical terroir has been almost exclusively devoted to Riesling for centuries.
Keuper, marl, dolomite and gypsum, rich in fertilising agents, overlaid with fine layers of quaternary siliceous gravel, Vosges sandstone and Muschelkalk, with at its eastern extremity outcrops of Lias marl limestones.
Winemaking
The grapes are taken in small tubs to the presses, which are filled by gravity, without any pumping or other mechanical intervention.
After pressing, the must is decanted for a few hours, then fermented in temperature-controlled barrels or vats (at 18 to 24°C). The wine is racked just once, before natural clarification during the course of the winter. The following spring, the wine is lightly filtered just before bottling, and the bottles are then aged extensively in our cellars until released for sale.
The whole production of this wine is closed with DIAM the cork without the risk of cork taint.
Varietal
Riesling : 100%
Specifications
Alcohol content : : 13.25° % vol.
Residual Sugar : : 6,5 g/l
Tartaric acidity : : 7,93 g/l
pH : : 3.09
Age of vines : : 30 years old
Yield : : 45 hl/ha hL/ha

Advice

Video
Tasting notes by Serge Dubs, World's Best Sommelier 1989
Young, pale pistachio colour with prevailing green hints, a touch of pastel yellow and lime, lively and star-bright, it clings softly to the glass.

The bouquet is frank, lively, clean and open, with agreeable notes of fruit (green apple, lemon balm, citronella, ginger, cardamom...) and flowers (spring blossom, almond, primrose...) with a finely honed minerality so typical of Riesling from an excellent terroir.

The palate is nicely vivacious and fresh, agreeably dry with the very fine acidity of ripe grapes, still thirst-quenching despite its distinguished body and structure. The wine is crystal-clear, well balanced and harmonious, with a clean, scented finish.
A very fine Riesling of great class, with the subtle touch of minerality that will enable it to age well.

Perfectly drinkable already for its energy and character, the complex bouquet will not be revealed before 8 to 12 more years in bottle.
A highly gastronomic wine to be served at 8°C, with turbot, sea perch, monkfish, lobster, crayfish, seafood, pike and pike-perch.
After several years in bottle, serve it with roast or creamed chicken, rack of veal with mushrooms, pork belly...

Reviews

20/20
"C'est le moment d'apprendre l'alsacien..." [+]
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96/100
"This wine has developed a lovely maturity over the years and starts very clear and intense, with nicely spicy and floral flavors on the nose. On the palate, this still developing Schoenenbourg reveals all the characters a grand cru from this exceptional appellation should have: depth, a noble richness, density, concentration, a complex and persistent minerality, a tight and age-worthy structure, and a very long and tension-filled finish." [+]
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97/100
"The purity of this wine is phenomenal now with sliced apple, melon, mineral and hints of chalk. It’s full-bodied, dense and compacted with a super finish. There is almost a saltiness on the finish. Dried fruits too, such as lemon, lime and papaya. From the best parcel of the Schonenberg. Very long and incredible. Goes on
for minutes. So amazing now but will age forever. I marvel in its complexity and completeness.
"

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